HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We are winter people. We love the cold, the quietness, the shadows created by the low-lying sun. We love the fire in the wood stove, the bringing in the wood, and the sound of the chain saw in the fall, the smell of wood smoke in the air. We love the snow, waking up and knowing it had snowed without looking because of the quiet. We love watching the dogs act like pups again, burying their heads in the snow, running, playing, biting the snow. Like little kids they don’t want to come in, just play and play in that beautiful white stuff. We love the trees that have shed their leaves so they can show off their beautiful shapes and colors of their bark., we love their silhouettes against the dark clouds of a storm coming in, we love the fact that they are resting a bit, roots still growing but having a little breather from the all that photosynthesis they were doing all spring and summer.
We love the birds with their puffed feathers on a cold morning. The quail looking like bowling balls, they are so round. We love the coyotes, with their plush coats and tails so thick and lush. We love the ravens, hearing their wings with the whoosh, whoosh sound they make, it always sounds louder in the winter to us.
We love the clothes of winter, the flannels, the Henley’s, coats, jackets, sweaters, gloves, scarves, boots, vests, hats, and earmuffs.
We love the winter nights, the stars so clear and bright, the air crisp and clean smelling.
Snow. There’s no earth left under it.
It’s too cold to breathe.
Teeth ache; trees crack the air is bluish.
My breath goes straight up.
This woods is so quiet
That if it weren’t for the buffer of trees
I could hear everything on earth
Jim Harrison
The mountain men of the 1800’s were know for their tall tales one of my favorites is from Jim Bridger on his winter in Yellowstone country.
After Jim’s stay in Yellowstone country he went back east and told the folks there about how when the trappers tried to speak the words would come out frozen, they froze the second they would come out of their mouths, each of the trappers would have to gather up the frozen words and take them back to the campfire to thaw them out just so they could hear what each other had said during the day. They had to string those words out back into sentences.
Winter books: Bernd Heinrich “Winter World” about how animals survive winter.
Barry Lopez “Artic Dreams”
I hope you all enjoy your winter, whether it is warm and sunny or cold and dark. Your thoughts on winter, winter poems or just any old thing you want to talk about feel free to post away! ☺
Here are some old pics I have taken in the winter from Yaak, Mt. to Llano, Ca.
8 inches of snow fell last night
San Gabriel Mountains, California
Yaak river, MT After a 10 degree night, ice started to break up in the Yaak river.
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Hi juslivn!! Thanks for the Christmas greeting, I hope your family had a wonderful Christmas!
Hi Briar! It would have been neat to spend Christmas with them in Kodiak but we will hopefully be there for Brody's first birthday!
Hi Dan! Your greeting is beautifully done!! Which of your horses is that? It looks like he was practicing dressage without your wife! LOL!
It was a really nice Christmas, done in stages with another stage today. With one couple coming over in the morning on Christmas and staying for lunch and my son coming over later for dinner. Lots of laughs and conversation!!! We skyped my son and dil in Kodiak and had so much fun talking with them and admiring Brody in his Santa outfit!
Prime rib came out better than great! I will always age a good cut of beef from now on. What a difference in flavor and oh so tender!!!
My son brought a great bottle of wine, boy am I glad I had today off! LOL!
The unique gift I got is a travel coffee mug that looks just like a Nikon lens!! It is cool! In fact one of our guests asked what mm the lens (coffee cup) was.
The third stage has arrived, gotta go!!
Busy here; enjoy your last day off!
Your warning up there about the cold nights was well taken and I brought along a heavy coat. However, the coldest it got after sundown was in Beaumont when I was leaving - 55 degrees - and the rest of the trip home it stayed above 60! Until SP, anyway. Here it was, like, 45, lol
Sorry your weather is so warm! I'm loving it, of course. I think you'll get more cold and snow next month - for a good start to what I hope will be a wonderful year for you and yours :) It'll be hard to top a new-grandbaby year, though!
Here's wishing a very Happy and Safe New Year's Eve to everyone - and a grand new 2012 tomorrow morning! Remember, the Rose Parade isn't on until Monday (for those that watch)! I won't know what to do tomorrow morning!
I hope you have a happy, healthy and safe 2012 :)
White Rabbits, White Rabbits, White Rabbits, cal, and I hope you and hubby have a great 2012!
Hope this year is a good one for you and yours.
I've recently "discovered" some areas of Cali I've never even heard of - through one of my blog commenters. Once things settle down a bit I'll be back to share a little about that.
In the meantime - best wishes for the new year!
What comes out of the mouth of babes isn't near as bad as the other end, LOL!
Thank you Pros, Weatherpoints, Karen, sandi, Ylee, bug, unclemush, and shore!
Hi shore! That pic was taken in Telluride (not by me) but I love the fireworks against the snow. I will be interested in the places to go in Cali. We just found out about one called the Loop. It is where train tracks because of the steepness of the mountain go through a tunnel and then wind around above the tunnel. So you have part of the train going through the tunnel and the front part coming around on top of the tunnel. Hope that makes sense! We plan to go in the spring and I will for sure take pictures. The trains run every hour so not hard to wait for one to come by.
Happy New Year!
Try putting your Humbolt lily seedlings in the shade and don't let them dry out. I know they like the dry when they are dormant but I can't imagine them liking it when they are just babies. Summer is a tough time for young seedlings, to hot and to dry. Try some mulch around them too and protect from the drying wind.
I will be planting the desert willow seeds tomorrow. I have other trees that I have started from seed that need to go up into 5 gallon containers. I have another customer who gave me quite a few paperbark maple seeds. Not something I would grow here, I need to find someone to give them to. They are quite easy to start from seed and are really a beautiful maple.
I love starting plants from seeds or cuttings but can't plant them here because of our water issue. I guess I am a grower at heart!
Cody looks cute trying out all the cool new body functions.
Do you spend most of the winter starting new plants at the greenhouse where you work? Just wondering. The local Calloways here looks pretty desolate.
My wall of plants is doing good. One of these days I will do a photo shoot and post pics.
The seeds from our red maple will sprout anywhere, like weeds! It is nothing to clean out dozens of seedlings out of our flowerbed each spring!
Hope you're having a good day!
If anyone would like some of these seeds I would be very happy to share. Next year I hope to have some Shantung maple seeds. A maple I grow here in the desert that does not get leaf scorch. It is also very cold hardy. And I have some desert willow seeds that are suppose to have an extra large flower. They would do well in the desert southwest, and maybe west texas.
It is way to warm and dry in Cali!! Right now I would be happy with rain, doesn't have to be snow!
Have you ever been there? It looks like it would be a wonderful trip!
I'm glad you are finding ways to enjoy the unusual warmth. I'm sure you'll get your winter soon :)
It occurred to me today (whilst basking in the warm sunshine, thinking about the confused trees and other plants) that one reason for you to like the cold is you are probably allergy-free during winter. Did you ever finish reading part 3 of that blog on "worms"? He was late getting it up - here it is, just in case. It doesn't add much but it is fascinating.
I noted above that Shore was curious about the Anza-Borrego desert and the Salton Sea. When I lived in San Diego, it was only a few hours away to the east, so I visited it at least once a year. It seemed very strange to see date palms growing not far away from where brown pelicans were visiting the Salton Sea. Much of the surrounding area is almost a ghost town, as there were some who tried to turn it into a resort back in the 1920s. Wandering a dusty back road along the perimeter of the Salton Sea at dusk one time, I spotted some rare burrowing owls. My old 35mm point-and-shoot was unable to capture much detail, but they sure were fun to watch.
Oddly, shrub roses do great here as does rosemary, lavender and marigolds. These are what survived this last summer of drought and record 100f+ days.
P.S. I forgot about the lilac tree, another maple, and a white dogwood!
Hi Cal, have a very busy few days coming this week,
but wanted to drop by and wish you a great week :)
Can I mix and match species of lavenders?
Hi Shore! I have never been to the Salton Sea. I have been down to Anza- Borrega many years ago. I love the cactus down there. My favorite desert type place to go is Death Valley! I love that place. Especially Titus Canyon, it is a one way dirt road that puts you very very close to the rocky canyon walls. An old mining town is down on the floor of the canyon also, plus many other mines in the area. My older son just went there for a couple of days in December and is now a fan! The first time I was there it snowed. And you never, ever go in the summer!!!
Hi SP! My rain on the 15th has disappeared, this is one unusual winter for all of the US. Kodiak on the other hand is setting record cold, and has had a few big snowfalls for them. My dil just sent me a video of their boxer playing in the snow. He didn't like it at first but is now loving it. He may become an Alaskan dog after all.
Ylee, I love your choices of trees! The Dogwood being my favorite tree. Beautiful flowers great fall color, what more can we ask for in a tree! Plus you have the evergreens in amongst all the fall color, NICE! I was able to have Dogwoods up in the mountains when I lived there, a beautiful white and pink!
Hi Briar! I answered you on your blog! I just was out throwing manure on my trees and my evergreen tree seedlings after we got back from our drive. Sometimes I wish I could stop this growing urge I have! If I had water that would be one thing, but hauled water is darn expensive!!!! We use a lot of mulch so we are down to every 10 day watering schedule for the planted trees. I have gotten to love cactus and whenever I go on a consulting job at a customers house and they have a nice cactus, well I am not shy about asking for a cutting!
Hi sandi! I hope you are having fun on your busy week!
Thank you for the lovely picture!!!
Hi GG! I would recommend the Hidcote and the Lady lavender both are around 16" x 18". They are both much tougher and easier to get going then the munstead lavender. Other lavenders like the Grosso, Provence and the augustafolia get pretty big, like 4'x4'. High Desert gardens has several lavenders on their site that you can't find in the garden centers. I like the Hidcote because of it's toughness and the color, a dark purple, with long wands. It is usually found at most garden centers during the early summer.
You might also interplant with Nepeta Walkers Low. A nice catmint that has purple flowers and is also quite drought and heat tolerant! It does tend to reseed though, but then so does lavender if it is happy. I like the catmint because it will trail down, it is also around 18" to 24" tall and wide.
Look into agastache for the hummers, they have some small leafed ones that are more drought tolerant then others, of course in a different place then the lavender.
There is a mall down the hill which is an outside mall that has their rosemary in containers that are up high and the container sits on a single rod iron leg. The rosemary trails down to the ground and it really looks great. It would be pretty to do that on either side of an arbor or a front door. It is like a green waterfall! I'll stop now, I could go on and on and on......
Planning our trip to Kodiak. We are going up for Brody's first birthday and then back to Anchorage to rent a vehicle and take off down to the Kenai peninsula for a few days. Next year I am hoping that we can all meet in Denali. I have looked into renting cabins up there and they were pretty reasonably priced! I sure hope my older son can come to, wouldn't that be a great time!!!!
No jury duty yet, I call in every night after 5:00 PM to find out. I still have 3 more days left that I have to be available. I wouldn't be surprised if I have to go in tomorrow when I am supposed to be at work! I am one of those strange people who would like to serve on a jury. I feel like it is my duty to give some of my time and I also would find it really interesting.
One of my New Years things was to change my computer homepage to Google because it isn't full of gloom and doom news like the other pages (MSN, AOL etc)
Did not realize that Alaska was getting nailed with bad weather and fuel shortages. Your son must be really busy. Hope their homes stay heated and roofs stay intack from the snow/ice load.
When exactly are you planning to visit again?
I think our non winter will be changing to winter mode again, the jet stream is changing and looks like it will be coming down further into cali.
Off to gym and work!
Hope you are having a good day!
A Winter Eden by Robert Frost
A winter garden in an alder swamp,
Where conies now come out to sun and romp,
As near a paradise as it can be
And not melt snow or start a dormant tree.
It lifts existence on a plane of snow
One level higher than the earth below,
One level nearer heaven overhead,
And last year's berries shining scarlet red.
It lifts a gaunt luxuriating beast
Where he can stretch and hold his highest feat
On some wild apple tree's young tender bark,
What well may prove the year's high girdle mark.
So near to paradise all pairing ends:
Here loveless birds now flock as winter friends,
Content with bud-inspecting. They presume
To say which buds are leaf and which are bloom.
A feather-hammer gives a double knock.
This Eden day is done at two o'clock.
An hour of winter day might seem too short
To make it worth life's while to wake and sport.
I see rain may be on the way to you! Good! We have had a little rain this morning, but mainly we are waiting to see if it will turn to snow later today as cold air from Alaska filters in. Not super cold, but maybe enough to give us some snow showers. We can hope!
Well, we'll see how it pans out :)
I remember my dog's first chance to play in snow - you'd swear she'd been born to it. Being half husky, I guess she was! I wish I'd given her more opportunities, but, you know. It is kind of a pain to clean the car after a trip to the snow with a dog, LOL
Yesterday was gorgeously beautifully warm, and today is overcast and so chilly! My son-in-law burned a DVD for us with a burning fireplace - crackling and all! It'll definitely be played while we lay on the couch reading today!
Pro, beautiful poem by Frost!! Thank you so much for sharing it on my blog! And the picture you took is really very pretty.
Hi PSP! I saw you got some snow, I know you like it too, so I am happy for you!!! Weather is cloudy here with maybe a shot at some light showers later today.
Hi SP! My weather forecasting is based on plausible deniability! LOL!
Hi Karen! I think your kids will make it out of Barstow without being rained on. There are some nice spots out by Barstow to camp at and do some rockhounding! We did some 4 wheeling out of Barstow in the Mojave river basin. Got our selves a nice flat tire going through some sand and fish tailing into a large sharp rock that went through the side wall. Haven't been 4 wheeling again! It cost to much to fix stuff that we end up doing to our vehicle. LOL!!!
A new blog coming this week, hopefully!!!!!!
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